Using Portfolios in the Classroom Karina Aburto Bilingual Assessment and Monitoring Spring 2002

Using Portfolios in the Classroom Overview of presentation Definitions Values Limitations Steps in designing a portfolio

Definitions of Portfolios “Systematic collections of student work selected to provide information about students’ attitudes and motivation, level of development and growth over time.” (Kingore, 1993) “A purposeful, chronological collection of student work, designed to reflect student development in one or more areas over time and student outcomes at one or more designated points in time.” (French, 1992) “Purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress, and achievements in one or more areas.” (Del Vecchio et.al, 2000)

Possible Values of Using Portfolios Views of student growth Invites self-evaluation Encourages student and teacher creativity Can show progress towards long-range goals Encourages the use of integrated activities with emphasis on depth of learning Can link learning to the world of work Represent actual learning experiences and provide evidence of performance beyond acquisition of factual knowledge

Values of Portfolios (cont.) Provide opportunities for improved student self-image Increase students’ responsibility for their own learning and intrinsic motivation Incorporate examples of student’s higher-level thinking and problem solving Can be used by teachers to monitor class progress, provide feedback to students and parents Encourage a collaborative effort between teachers and students Help to increase awareness of the abilities of special populations (Kingore, 1993)

Possible Limitations of Using Portfolios  Requires administrators and teachers who believe in their value and are well trained in their implementation  Must evolve over a prolonged period of time  Volume may be mistaken for quality  Not comparable  Worthwhile activities may be time-consuming to develop and administer  Difficult to use for assessing very specific objectives  Assigning a single quantitative score can negate the richness of the portfolio  (Kingore, 1993) 

Conceptual Structure The planning and decision-making behind a portfolio project which establishes the priorities and long-term value of the process Before initiating portfolio assessment the concept of portfolios must be decided upon by teachers and administrators The decisions about the conceptual structure are based upon the clarification and communication of many factors (Kingore, 1993)

Portfolio Questionnaire The following questionnaire is intended to help teachers summarize their current thoughts about establishing or refining a portfolio program in their school. Teachers should not feel limited to the options presented in these questions. (Kingore, 1993) (Hastings, 1999) ml#tool ml#tool

Sample Sources  Where do you think student samples should come from?  Classroom and curriculum  Discipline, department or block program  School wide  Outside of school  Other

Limits to Samples  Are there any outside boundaries defining the limits of an acceptable sample?  Will the portfolio contain only the best work of students, reflect their learning growth and progress over time, or both?  Will you allow self-graded work or ungraded work from school?

Required Samples General Type Is there a general type of sample that you would like students to include in their portfolio? Think of the traits you hope students will be encouraged to include in their portfolio? May include work related to demonstrate: Citizenship Life-long learning Critical thinking Problem-solving Computing

Possible Student Samples Art Language experience dictations Written reports First drafts and revised writing Math samples Written personal response Reading or writing logs Journal entries Lab reports Group reports or projects Self-evaluations and reflections Photographs of three dimensional products

Portfolio Designers Who should design the portfolio program? Make a list of all the people you could invite, then reduce it to a manageable number. People to consider include: Classroom teacher Team of practitioners (dept., committee) school wide Team of practitioners district wide Administrators Students

Oral Presentations Will your students be asked to share or present their portfolios? Who will be invited to view student portfolios? Student creator and teacher Peers Guardians Future or next year’s teachers Administrators People invited by the student

Audience Expectations How do you want to involve your audience in the process? What would you like them to do? Listen to students Advise students Grade and evaluate portfolios or the presentation Ask questions and offer praise Other

Grading Portfolios How will you grade the portfolio effort? The entire product will be graded using a rubric spelling out criteria for appearance and completeness Selected samples will be graded individually Specific skills will be graded using a rubric or other predetermined standard It will not be graded The student’s self-evaluation will be graded for accuracy by comparing it to a second evaluator’s score for matching validity

Grading Sequence Do you want to give one all-or-nothing grade at the end, or use a process of grading in progressive steps toward completion? Examples: Earning points along the way for turning in 10 work samples Completing an outline Creating an entire package Making a presentation

Aesthetic Standards for Final Product Do you want your students’ portfolios to have a consistent or unified look? Establish a minimum set of elements for each portfolio. Cover Title page Table of contents Overview Page numbers Conclusion or reflection statement

Aesthetic Standards for the Individual Samples What about individual portfolio samples, should they have a unified style or common look? Are there certain things you want included in each sample? What must minimally accompany each sample? Title Captions Student evaluation of the sample’s value or purpose What student learned

Archiving Frequency How often should students be expected to archive materials or add to their portfolio? Weekly Monthly Quarterly Yearly Other

Access to Portfolios Who will have access to portfolios? Students Teachers Administrators Family Other

Storage Who is responsible for storing portfolios? Where will this be done? Choosing a container to use for storage depends on four factors: Be strong enough to withstand a whole year’s use Occupy no more classroom space than is comfortably available in most classrooms Be economically feasible Be readily accessible to students so the portfolios can be a natural part of daily classroom activities

Work Time Options - Where When will students work on their portfolios? In a specific class In a block class During a special activity or advisory period As they finish assignments that can be placed in their portfolio Totally outside of school

Work Time Options - How Often How much time should students be given to work on their portfolio in school? One period or hour per day One period or hour per week One period or hour per month Other

Culminating Event --Yes or No? If you choose to have a culminating event, what kind would you like to see? Parent and teacher conference Peers or class review Family evaluation Review by committee Presentation and celebration Teacher/student interview

Culminating Event - When When could portfolios be shared, evaluated, and presented? After school During teacher prep periods Special days where school closes and conferences are held Specified portfolio day Other

Presentation References (2000). Portfolios. [On-line]. Available: Retrieved on April 6, Del Vecchio, A., Gustke, C. & Wilde, J. (2000). Alternative Assessment for Latino Students. In J.V. Tinajero & R.A. DeVillar (Eds.), The Power of Two Languages (pp. 365 – 382). New York: McGraw-Hill. French, R. (1993). Portfolio Assessment and LEP Students. [On-line]. Available: Retrieved on March 6, Genesse, F. & Hamayan, E.V. (1991). Classroom-based Assessment. In F. Genesee, ed., Educating Second Language Children: The Whole Child, the Whole Curriculum, the Whole Community. New York: Cambridge University Press. Hastings, E. Portfolio Questionnaire. Texas A&M University Methods Course, Fall 1999.

Presentation References (cont.) Kingore, B. (1993). Portfolios: Enriching and Assessing All Students (1 st ed.). Des Moines: Leadership Publishers Inc. Navarrete, C. & Gustke, C. (1996). A Guide to Performance Assessment for Linguistically Diverse Students. [On-line]. Available: Retrieved on March 7,